Means for press forging articles



Oct. 19, 1948. H. 1-. M. RICE 2,4

MEANS FOR PRESS FORGING ARTICLES Filed May 26, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet l 18 15 m i2 5 Y- 20 "m Z0 10 INVENTOR. HsweyI/M 19/65,

Oct. 19, 1948. H. 1-. M. RICE 2,451,512

MEANS FOR PRESS FORGING ARTICLES Filed May 26, 1944- 5 Sheets-Sheei 2 70 Ljifi INVENTC R.

Havev 7.71% Q/CE,

Oct. 19, 1948. H. T. M. RICE 2,451,512

MEANS FOR PRESS FORGING ARTICLES Filed May 26, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN TOR. HEA/Py 27% 0/65,

Oct. 19, 1948. H. T. M. RICE 2,451,

MEANS FOR PRESS FORGI'NG ARTICLES Filed May 26, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVEN TOR.

HEN/av [/V/i P/cE ATTORNEY.

Oct. 19, 1948. H. T.'M. RICE 2,451,512

Isms FOR Prmss rename ARTICLES Filed May 26, 1944 s Sheets-Sheet 5 #4 a 4 12 r k 10 Q 7 ab a! v INVENTOR. HEN/9y 27% 19/65,

ATTORN Patented Oct. 19, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 This invention relates generally to for manufacturing parts for universal wrench sockets and the like by press forging procedures.

Universal sockets of the type referred to comprise two sccketed elements, each formed with a pair of furcations, a connecting block partially received between each of the pairs of furcations, and pivots connecting the blocks to the pairs of furcations on pivot axes at right angles to one another. The sockets may be designed one to receive a bolt head or nut, and the other a squared wrench handle, or both may be squared.v It is to the press forging production of a square socketed element of such a character that the present invention is directed.

Forging may be defined as the packing or kneading of a metal to close and weld voids in the original metal, and to compact and consolidate the crystalline structure, whereby the strength of the metal is greatly increased. The metal may be so packed or kneaded under repeated hammer blows, or by squeezing in a press under extreme hydraulic pressure. In pressforging, there is a deep or through penetration of the metal by the extreme pressure exerted, and maximum refinement of the crystalline structure throughout the product results.

Despite the attractiveness of the press forging type of operation, however, methods and apparatus for press forging universal socket elements 1 of the type mentioned above have not appeared, and it may be stated that the general object of the present invention is the provision of novel and improved apparatus for press forging articles of the kind indicated.

The present application may be regarded as dealing specifically with certain apparatus coming under the general heading of the subject matter disclosed in my copending application, entitled Method and means for making wrench sockets and the like, filed May 24, 1944, Serial No. 537,064, and wherein claims generic to the present inven" tion will be found.

Reference is directed to said copending application for a discussion of certain of the advantages characteristic of the subject matter-common to the two cases.

The present invention will be best understood by now referring to the following detailed description of certain present illustrative embodiments thereof, reference for this purpose being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side'elevational view of a hydraulic press, showing the upper portion of a stationary bed, and the lower portion of the 9 Claims.

apparatus vertically movable plunger head, the plunger head being shown at the top of its stroke, just before descending;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical medial section taken in accordance with line 3--3 of Fig. 2, and showing the plunger head in an operating position following that indicated in Fig. 1; r

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view, partially sectionalized, of a universal socket tool of a more or less conventional type, having a square socketed part such as may be manufactured by the methods of thepresent invention;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the parts of the plunger head moved to their ultimate downward position;

Fig. 7 is a section taken on line l-! of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective of the die insert and die punch, in a position corresponding to that of Figs. 6 and 7;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 6, but showing the plunger head being retracted upwardly, and the forged product being stripped from the die punch;

' Figs. 10, 11 and 12 are half sections in perspective of the product, viewed in various aspects;

Fig. 13 is a View similar to Fig. 3, but showing a modified setup;

Fig. 13a is a detail section on line l3w-I3a of Fig. 13;

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary View similar to a portion of Fig. 13, but showing a subsequent operating position; and

Fig. 15 is a halfsection in perspective of the product resulting from the operation and method of Figs. 14 and 15.

Inthe drawings, and referring more particularly to Figs. 1 through 12, the numerals l0 and I I designate, respectively, the horizontal bed and vertically movable plunger head of a hydraulic press, which may be generally of conventional design. Sunk into the fiat, horizontal upper face 'of bed- H3 is an abutment in the form of a disc 13 whose upper face is formed with a diametral rib M, the upper face of the disc being flush with the face ofbed H], and the rib l4 rising above said face as clearly appears in the drawings. Resting on the disc i3 is a die block disc l5, preferably of the same diameter as disc 13,,and the underside of this disc l5 has a diametral slot I6 which receives the aforesaid rib Hi. This die block 15 is of the one-piece or nonparting type, and is of course-formed of suitably hardened steel. It is formed with a central cylindrical bore or die cavity l8, which extends through it from face to face. While the die cavity is here illustrated as of substantially equal diameters at the upper and lower faces of the die block, there is nothing to prevent the use of convergence, if desired, from the surface toward the lower end, and as a matter of fact, a slight taper will facilitate extraction of the n qdn t rom. t edie. HQW Q 1Z es ntial that the cavit'ybe of a nonundercutcharaeter, i. e. that its cross-sectional dimensions nowhere exceed the dimensions of its mouth, since otherwise extraction of the product through said mouth would be an impossibility.

The aforementioned rib I4 is, o a thickness equal to the desired dimension between the furcations to be formed on the product, and'lt, is formed with a squared notch centralized within the die cavity and of a width preferably equal to the thickness of the rib. The depth of this notch may vary with, circumstances :as will later more fullyappear, but may typically be approximately as illustrated in the drawings;

Lhe vertical plunger head H" is. provided: with the usual lateral cross-slot for a knockout bar 31, and below. slot 39 with a vertical bore. 32 opening through its lower-end. Receive-dv in. this bore is the reduced cylindrical shank; 3.3 of a die punch holder 34, which also. has an. enlarged head 35 at its lower and adapted to engage the countersunk into the shank 33;. The shank 33 is 'removabl'ysecured in position. in thepln'nger head ll by means of a removableihsert-clamp block lid. secured to the plunger headziby. means of screws 45, and. designed. toclam'pingly en a e the shank" 23. Such construction isv more: or less-{f conventional and will be readily understood;

. Also. carried by plunger head H is a. member 46 functioning, first, as av closure for the upper end of the die cavity, and second, as-Ia. stripper for removing the forged product from. the die punch. This member 4.6' comprises, in. the present embodiment of the invention, a lower an.- nular part 4-1 which is receivable, with a close sliding lit, in the mouth. or upper. end. portion of the cylindrical die cavity H; and anenlareed upper disc-like part 43 whose horizontal lower surface is engageable with the top. face. of: the

die block when the closure part, 41; hasbeeniiuliy Hi, and: whose. horizontal upper surface isadapted to be lzlg 'ed by the horizontal lower face 5.31. of-the di punch inserted within the; die cavity holder 34. As here shown, the member 6: is carried by a pair of long s.crews,54. which reach downwardly through the die punch; holder .4. the heads of said-screwsbeing countersunk-into. the pp r, end of the latter, and the, low r end of the screws being'screwed into thediscj 4.8, in

the manner clearly illustrated in the drawings. The screws 5,4.are of such length that: the member 56 is normally suspended in a position spaced somewhat below die punch holder 34-, (Fig.1) and the screws 54.,are. slidable in said holder 34 to permit relative movement between die punch 4 receive the squared punch with a close sliding fit.

The knockout bar 3| is normally held down to the lower end of slot 30 by means of coil springs 60 connected between its ends and the lower end portion of the plunger head II. In the course of upward movement of the plunger head, the two ends of the knockout bar engage a pair of stationary stop screws, 5|. (Fla. .9.) which limit the upward indvement; of theqbar 3%] and arrest the same while the plunger head is still rising. The knockout bar 3| passes over and engages the heads of the two screws 54 in the performance or a, function which will presently appear.

Fig, 1 shows the press in the preliminary position, a billet of metal I0, preferably heated to a r gging-temperature, having been deposited in the die cavity H. The plunger head then descends, shortly reaching the position of Fig. 3, wherein die closure element 41 has been inserted within the. month of thedie cavity and the disc like member 48' has come into engagementWiththeupperiaceof the dieiblock. With continued downward movement of plunger head I ii, "the. die'plinohholder 3 will then slide downwardly on the screws. 54, the heads of which, remaining stationary, arrest downward move ment of knockout bar 31.}, sothat the'latter moves relatively upward-1y in the slot 3!! of the still. descending plungerhead. The springs 69 are,

off course, stretched-I out; at this time. 7

The descending die punch next engages. and is .torceck into the billet, forming the socket s, and causing. metal to flow downwardly around the two sides of the notched rib. l4: and into. the notch itselgf, aswell as upwardly around the outside of the. punch into-engagement with the die closure. member 41'. Figs. 6 and. 7. illustrate how the metal. has been. towed to form. an upper socket; portion H, of circular external shape and head: having been. elevated nearly, butnot quite,

to .its initlaliposition, and the, 'k'nock-out bar 3:1 having; come intc engagementwith; the stop screws, 6.1; and: therefore, throu h: its. engagement with the screws 54,, havingarrested up.

ward movement. of: the: die closure. member 46.

It; will: .be understood: that. lfi'l'lfizrSOGki-ltfidi product will; tend to. seizeonto. the die p nch, and; will be. elevated; with; the latterwhen; the plunger head: moves. up. However, the member-r 4.6: is

arrlestediin itsupwand movement by. the engage:- ment'; or" knoole-out, barl- BJ: with stop. screws; 6.4:,

and annular element '41, which: will: be, observed fio ofsmetalard nd c ll):

the-

efi' a flash, which is moulded to a smoothed finish at the top by its engagement with the die closure element 41. This flash becomes the upper portion of the side wall of the socket. At the same time, metal has been extruded downwardly around the two sides of the insert rib l3 to form the legs or furcations 12, a portion of the metal between those legs having been moved or squeezed by the punch downwardly into the notch 20' to form the bridge piece 13 that joins said legs.

The product as shown in Figs. 10-12 may have the bridge piece subsequently sheared out, as will readily be understood, and the legs may then be clipped to desired contour and drilled or punched to receive a pivot pin, thus completing the upper square-socketed element 80 of the universal Wrench tool of Fig. 5. The manner of acccomplishing these finishing operations with conventional shearing and clipping tools will be obvious to those skilled in the art-and no illustration thereof is deemed necessary herein. The element 80 is shown in Fig. 5 as pivoted to a connecting block 8|, which is in turn pivoted to the furcations of a socketed element 82, which may have a square or other socket as will be understood. If it is to have a 12-point socket, it may be made by the procedure disclosed in my above mentioned copending application Serial No. 537,064. There may be various occasions wherein for reasons of added strength, the device of Figs. -12 has utility with the bridge piece 13 in place, and the present invention furnishes a method and means for press forging such a product.

Figs. 13 through 15 show a modified embodiment of the invention, designed to produce the ultimate press forging in one operation. The apparatus is in this instance generally similar to that previously described, with the principal exception that the notch in the rib 14 of the die insert structure becomes an aperture 80 of squared cross-section extending downwardly through the rib and on entirely through the disc [3, the bed 10 being provided with an outlet opening 8| aligned with said aperture for the passage of a Waste slug of material. The only other difference is that the die punch must be given a somewhat increased length of travel, resulting in some changes of proportion in the structure, as will be evident from a comparison of Fig. 13 with Fig. 3.

Fig. 13 shows a position corresponding to that of Fig. 3, and shows the heated billet 10 in place in the die cavity, with the die closure member 46 lowered to its ultimate position, and the die punch just before engaging the billet. Fig. 14 shows the position of the parts at the end of the down stroke of the die punch, and shows that the punch has continued on downwardly, forcing a slug of metal 82 on downwardly through the aperture 80, whence it will fall from the apparatus via the waste outlet 8|. Otherwise, the operation is precisely the same as that previously described. The characteristic operation of Figs. 13 through 15 is thus that the die punch continues on downwardly, gradually moving the slug 82 to the bottom of the two downwardly extending furcations 83 formed on the two sides of the insert rib, and finally shearing it therefrom. The resulting product, designated generally by numeral 84, is shown in half-section perspective in Fig. 15, and it will be evident how such product, thus produced in one step, may be clipped and drilled or punched for use in such a tool as is illustrated in Fig. 5.

I have herein illustrated and described certain particular methods and apparatus as illustrative of the invention; it is to be understood of course that the invention is not to be construed as limitedto the specific embodiments herein described, which are for illustrative purposes only, and are subject to substantial modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

' 1. Press-forging apparatus of the character described, comprising: a die block having a die cavitysunk therein, a die punch reciprocable into and out Of said die cavity, an abutment closing the inner end of said die cavity and formed with a transverse rib extending transversely across the inner end portion of the cavity and spaced from two opposite sides thereof, and a central notch in said'rib adapted to slidably receive the end portion of said punch.

2. Press forging apparatus of the character described, comprising: a die block having a die cavity sunk therein, a die punch reciprocable into and out of said die cavity, and an abutment closing the inner end of said die cavity and formed with a transverse rib extending transversely across the inner end portion of the cavity and spaced from two opposite sides thereof, there being an aperture dimensioned to slidably receive said die punch extending through said rib and abutment.

3. Press forging apparatus of the character described, comprising: a die block having a die cavity sunk therein, a die punch of square cross-sectional form reciprocable into and'out of said die cavity, an abutment closing the inner end of said die cavity and formed with a transverse rib extending transversely across the inner end portion of the cavity and spaced from two opposite sides thereof, and a central notch of square cross-sectional form in said rib adapted to slidably receive the end portion of said punch.

4. Press forging apparatus of the character described, comprising: a die block having a die cavity sunk therein, a die punch of square crosssectional form reciprocable into and out of said die cavity, and an abutment closing the inner end of said die cavity and formed with a transverse rib extending transversely across the inner end portion of the cavity and spaced from two opposite sides thereof, there being an aperture dimensioned to slidably receive said die punch extending through said rib and abutment.

5. Press forging apparatus of the character described, comprising: a die block having a substantially cylindrical, nonundercut die cavity extending therethrough, a die punch of rectangular cross-section reciprocable into and out .of said die cavity, an abutment engaging the underside of said die block and closing the inner end of said die cavity, a rib on said abutment extending transversely across the inner end portion of said die cavity and spaced from opposite sides thereof, and a central rectangular notch in said rib adapted to slidably receive the end portion of said pun-ch.

6. Press forging apparatus of the character described, comprlsing: a die block having a substan-. tially cylindrical, nonundercut die cavity extending therethrough, a die punch of rectangular cross-section recipro-cable into and out of said die cavity, an abutment engaging the underside of said die block and closing the inner end of said die cavity, a rib on said abutment extending transversely across the inner end portion of said die cavity and spaced from opposite sides there- --cavity a d spa e im twe oppo te-sidw the e iy and a central tc in ai bar adapted t0 5 1 ably receivg the end por-tion of an punch.

P s f r n app a us of the cha s a d w cr b d c mprisi g; di b o k having a, die av ty su k therein, a di punch ecip aa-hla nto and: outv of said die cavity, a closure 91: the inner em; or s i die a ity, a t an eme ba positie e' immediately forwardly of said plps mre extending transversely across the inner end portiqn g1 $118 cavity an s ed-h m two op osite s d s er f! an v an ape u e .d' fins ned t0=1' l r@ ei e a d. e ch ex di g fi rqugrh aid ba and closure. 7 I

9.- ress, f in ap a s of th cha a it r dc 5mm, QQ. 'mising a 11%: bl k a in i un ein, die p h c ec eimo out; $2491 dig cavity, a, elos-u-ref-or the inner e' of sa d d e cav ty a trans er ba pQs-i-tiq d i diai qly fo ward y o a o ure xt i-H t .s eme y a os t e n r e o i of the dspae d f o p site s des rhgrof, b .a, can maul. emerging in said ba'r ad'aptad 9 s v ilis .seq iv aid d n T. MRIGE-f R FEREN E CITED The following referenc-esaare of record in th file (If this: patent:

UN TED S A S AT TS" 

